THE NEW YORK PRIMARY: THE DYNASTY; Family Name In Brooklyn Loses Clout With Defeat

By JONATHAN P. HICKS

Published: September 15, 2005

In Brooklyn, a borough with no shortage of political dynasties, the Boyland family name has been one of the most enduring. But in Tuesday's primary election, the family's electoral record suffered a rare blemish.

For nearly 30 years, a member of the family has been in public office, with the patriarch, William F. Boyland Sr., serving the longest. He began a career in Albany in 1982 after the death of his brother, Assemblyman Thomas Boyland. William Boyland was a member of the Assembly for nearly 20 years, until he resigned in 2003 and engineered the succession of his son, William Jr.

This year, his daughter, City Councilwoman Tracy L. Boyland, was barred by term limits from running for re-election. Her father, 65, decided to come out of retirement and seek the position, comparing his family to the Kennedys. But in an unusual defeat for a Boyland, he was beaten soundly on Tuesday in the Democratic primary by Darlene Mealy, a political newcomer who is a longtime employee of the New York City Transit Authority.

In this heavily Democratic bastion of Brownsville and Ocean Hill, her victory is tantamount to election. Ms. Mealy, 40, helped to create a civic association in the district by stitching together several block associations and has been a strong voice in the area for improving public safety and promoting economic development.

Her campaign was considered a long shot at first but received increasing support from an array of unions, politicians and political groups, including the Working Families Party.

Ms. Mealy said yesterday that she could hardly believe she had come out ahead of nine other candidates in the most crowded Council primary in the city. ''Wow. It still doesn't seem real to me,'' she said in an interview before going fishing off a pier in southern Brooklyn. ''I just need to get away just for a little while to take it all in. I'm still in a kind of state of shock.''

In unofficial results from the Board of Elections, Ms. Mealy had 47 percent of the votes; Mr. Boyland was second with 19 percent.

Such a solid victory for Ms. Mealy over Mr. Boyland was particularly stunning to Brooklyn politicians, many of whom have benefited from the support of a formidable Boyland family political machine.

Ms. Mealy's campaign asserted that the Boyland family had become too out of touch with average residents in the district and too beholden to developers to effectively represent the interests of a largely working-class and poor district.

She said that the Boyland family had accepted more than $100,000 in the last five years from developers at the same time that new housing created in the district was far too expensive for most residents -- $300,000 and $400,000 homes in a community with many public housing complexes.

Her message apparently caught on. Workers joined the Mealy campaign from some of the city's powerful unions: 1199/S.E.I.U., the health care union; Local 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union, which represents janitors; and Unite Here, which represents hotel, restaurant and apparel workers.

The Rev. Al Sharpton campaigned several times alongside Ms. Mealy in the 41st Council District. She also was endorsed by Representative Major Owens. (The other rare Boyland defeat came last year, when Tracy Boyland challenged Mr. Owens.)

Ms. Mealy was not the only one who seemed stunned yesterday.

''The election results certainly came as a surprise to me,'' Mr. Boyland said in an interview. ''I knew they had an empire against me: the unions, Acorn, the Working Families Party, Major Owens, everybody and their mama,'' Mr. Boyland added.

Chart/Map: ''New York City Council Primary Races''
Results as of 3:30 p.m. yesterday
KEY: + Winner * Incumbent
(Percentages may not total 100 because of rounding)